Feather That Falls From Crow's Alphabetical One-shot Challenge
by Willowsmoke of ShadowClan
Summary: A group of one-shots based on themes in alphabetical order. Warning: I write pretty dark one-shots. I will try to make them happy, but I can't guarantee anything.
1. Introduction

**I am doing the Alphabetical One-shot Challenge by Feather That Falls From Crow! If you would like to join in, send them a PM. There is more information at her story, The Alphabetical One-shot Challenge. Here are the different themes:**

**Assassination (or Abnormal)**

**Belong**

**Collide (or Chaos)**

**Dark (or Deathtrap)**

**Eternity (or Enemy)**

**Fragile (or Fire)**

**Gift (or Goodbye)**

**Homesick (or Horror)**

**Illness**

**Joking**

**Kill**

**Last (or Lost)**

**Moon**

**Night**

**Over**  
**Paradise (or Plant)**

**Quick**

**Rainfall (or Rat)**

**Snake**

**True (or Trial)**

**Under**

**Vicious**

**War**

**X- free choice**

**Yield**

**Z- free choice**

**Free choice (Grand Finale)**

**Since non-story chapters are not allowed, here is a quick poem about my favorite Warriors character, Blackstar. It's not that good, but at least I'm not breaking any rules. :) ****And be sure to check out Dawnflower of WindClan's contest. She is leaving that account, and is holding a contest too see who can take her place. If you PM Dawnflower a one-shot, she will pick the author of the best one to take over her account.**

Follower,

of the broken,

then of the tiger's claws.

Destroyer,

of the stone,

Capturer,

of innocent kits.

Redeemed,

at least somewhat,

when I chose the right side.

I fought for the lions,

on fire's side.

Now,

I lead.

The Clan of shadows,

of dark warriors,

of brave cats.

I stepped out of the darkness,

I was the best leader of the Clan,

in moons.

I have brought the Clan of shadows,

out of the darkness.

We

are equal

to every other.


	2. Assassination

**Sorry I haven't updated in so long! Well, here's my first one-shot for the Alphabetical One-shot Challenge_. _It is pretty dark, but I have a feeling you guys will like it. This is my first one-shot ever, so any constructive criticism is welcome.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, or the idea for the Alphabetical One-shot Challenge.**

**Without further ado, I present to you the story.**

**Assassination**

_~"The jealous are possessed by a mad devil and a dull spirit at the same time" – Johann Kaspar Lavater~ _

Snow crunched underpaw as I padded through the forest. My breath billowed in a white cloud around my muzzle. The cold seeped through my sleek, glossy pelt, through my skin and muscle, chilling me to the bone.

But it didn't bother me.

I glanced up at the midnight-black sky, where the round, glowing white moon should have hung. But tonight was a new moon, so there was just darkness where the light should have been.

The dark expanse of sky was laced with small silver stars. The spirits of my warrior ancestors. I let out a small purr. _Are you watching? Are you going to stop me, or let me go through with what I am about to do? _

The stars hung there, looking down on me. Satisfaction flowed through me, warming me and giving me the ability to continue. StarClan was just as helpless to stop me as everybody else.

I would have my revenge.

I soon came to the edge of ThunderClan's forest, where the frozen, snow-coated ground turned to cold gray stone. Stepping out of the protection of my Clan's territory, I climbed the gentle slope.

Upon reaching the crest of the small hill, I looked down into the hollow, the center of which was filled by a small crystalline pool. I had heard stories about the Moonpool, about how it shimmered with the stars, about how it seemed _alive_, but it wasn't until I stood there, in front of it, that I believed them.

_I wonder, would the Moonpool change my reflection? Well, there's only one way to find out. _Slowly, almost cautiously, I padded forward until I stood at the very edge of the pool, so close my paws brushed against the silvery, liquefied stars.

Taking a deep breath, I looked down into the pool. And what I saw tore away any shred of hope or self-respect I had left.

A she-cat stared back at me, with a healthy, well-groomed pelt of dark silver, the same color as the Moonpool itself. When she shifted even the slightest amount, her fur would appear to fade into the palest of silvers or darken into the softest of blacks, like ripples, soaring across the lake.

This was how I had earned my warrior name- Ripplewing.

Her eyes were the darkest of blues, expanses of dark, moonlit ocean.

She had the most graceful of builds, with her slender, long-legged body and narrow, elegant features. Her tail, which was ringed in silver-black, was tipped with white, along with a white underbelly and paw tips. There was no doubt about it, this cat would have been beautiful.

She would have been, if it weren't for the scar that ran across one side of her face, marring her ethereal beauty. The scar, which had left the exposed skin a light pinkish-color, ripped from her right temple, across her eye, and to the bottom of the right half of her jaw.

I stared in horror at my reflection, at the simple marking that could make the difference between exquisiteness and hideousness.

My examination was interrupted by a rustling in the bushes ringing the hollow. I could barely contain the burst of excitement that spurted up inside me. _Easy, Ripplewing! _I scolded myself inwardly. _It's almost time, but not yet. You've waited this long; you can wait a little longer._

A cat started down to the Moonpool, but froze when they saw me sitting there. I could almost _feel_ her admiration as her gaze traveled over my body, taking in the lean muscles under my pelt, and the odd, but wondrous, markings coating it. Of course, the scarred side of my face was facing the opposite side of the hollow she was on.

"Oh, hello!" Frozensky's voice echoed across the cold air, shocked but friendly. Fury rose inside me. The ShadowClan medicine cat was so _perfect_ in every way. I took it as my duty to change that.

When I didn't look up or speak, Frozensky's comfort faded, to be replaced by uneasiness.

"Sorry, but do I know you?" Her high, sweet voice contained a slight tremor now, as though she could sense the looming danger.

"So you don't remember me." Frozensky seemed, if possible, more afraid now that I had spoken. "Am I supposed to?" I could hardly stop myself from purring aloud. _How hilarious. _Am I supposed to. _What a question._

"Yes, Frozensky, you _are_ supposed to remember me. You are supposed to remember the cat whose life you ruined, with one swipe of your claws. You are supposed to remember the cat who you assumed was your friend, without ever actually deserving her friendship. Yes, you are supposed to remember."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Frozensky slowly start to back away, before apparently deciding it would be a bad idea. So, she turned on her charm.

"Surely a cat as beautiful as you could never have a life as bad as that? You must know as well as I do the power that comes from being beautiful. Countless toms, mesmerized whenever you pass by, padding after you constantly. Jealous she-cats, hating you for having the ability to catch mates like mice, but knowing if they try to take you down, you can do much worse to them."

I tilted my head so I could look at her clearly. She certainly was beautiful. Her coat was a pristine, shining white color that could practically blind a cat during the day, like snow shining in the sunlight.

If a cat was standing at the right angle, they could see a color almost blue underlying the white, giving the appearance of ice. Her eyes were a light blue, the color of the sky.

That was how she had earned _her_ warrior name.

She was a leaf-bare beauty, that cat. As mesmerizing as the snow elegantly draped across oaken branches, and as bright as the frost glistening on leaves and grass in the early morning light.

But she was also as cold as the breeze that nipped at ears and noses. Sometimes I thought she had become a medicine cat just to tease the many toms that sought her out, longing to feel her pelt pressed against theirs, to be surrounded by her sweet scent.

"Yes, I know the power of beauty. I also know how to use it, to manipulate everyone into believing I was perfect, and that I deserved their worship. But you took that from me. And now, I have to take it from you."

Fear, as sharp as thorns, jolted from Frozensky's body. "What...exactly...did I do to you?" The medicine cat's voice was cautious, careful not to disturb the anger that she must know was there, lurking beneath the surface.

"Maybe..._this_ will tell you." I finally raised my head, exposing the vicious scar that ran across my face. All at once, I could feel her admiration harden into disgust, as cold as the leaf-bare for which she was named.

"Ripplewing..." Frozensky's eyes narrowed as she murmured my name, as though remembering. "That's right, back when we were apprentices, and I was still in warrior training, there was a battle. We fought, and I managed to swipe my claws across your face. I take it you've never forgiven me, then."

Amusement filled her voice after her last comment, filling mine with cold fury.

"No. I haven't. And now..." I unsheathed my claws, tilting them so they would glint in the light of the moon. "Now, it's time for you to pay."

With that, I could no longer control myself. I let the feral rage inside me take control, and I lunged. Frozensky, having come to her senses, scrambled to escape, but her paws couldn't grip the slippery surface. I landed squarely on her shoulders, pinning her to the ground.

"Wh-what are y-you going to-to do to me?" She stammered, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Isn't it obvious?" I murmured in her ear. "I'm going to do to you what you did to me, so that the last memory every cat has of you will be a scarred mess."

Frozensky shifted beneath me. "So you're not going to kill me? Just scar me?" Her voice filled with hope. I let out a slight purr.

"Oh, I'm going to kill you. I just want to make you suffer first." The white-furred she-cat struggled beneath me, but she had lost the strength that being a warrior gave her after her moons as a medicine cat.

"Please!" She was sobbing now. "Please, just let me go! I'm sorry!" Her cry echoed out into the night, off of the stone surrounding the hollow, but no one was around to hear it.

I rolled her body over so she was facing the sky, and so I could see her momentarily beautiful face. Then, I struck. My claws dug into one of those beautiful eyes, slashing downward, and leaving a wound very similar to my own.

Her screams of pain rang through the sky, mixed with her sobs.

I felt barely conscious as I tore, uncontrollably, wildly, at the once beautiful medicine cat. And I could barely pull myself away when I was finished. By now, she was barely alive and soaked in blood.

If I hadn't known who she was previously, I wouldn't be able to recognize her. One of her eyes was missing, and one of her ears had been almost completely torn off. Clumps of her blood-soaked fur littered the ground around her.

I dragged her to the side of the Moonpool before looking down at her. "Are you still feeling perfect now, Frozensky?"

Her remaining eye glared up at me, full of hatred. "You will pay for this, Ripplewing. You'll go to the Dark Forest. You'll never see StarClan." I just looked down at her, amused.

"Do you really think, if I did this to you, that I _care_ about StarClan? I welcome the Dark Forest." Frozensky opened her jaws to speak again, but I was tired of hearing her voice, perfect even when she was dying and gasping for breath.

I raised one paw, then brought it down, claws unsheathed, on Frozensky's throat.

I literally tore her throat out. Now she was dead. My enemy, the cat who had ruined my life, was dead. And I was responsible.

Silently, I washed my paws in the pool, before cleaning up any sign of her attack. The only thing I left was Frozensky's mangled body.

Before I left, I cast one last look over my shoulder at the body, and felt the very first stirrings of regret.

_Was that really necessary? I mean, cats get scarred in battle all the time. I wasn't much different. Did Frozensky deserve to keep living her life? Should I have let her live, and let my anger and need for revenge go?_

_Well, I guess I'll never know. _With a nonchalant shrug, I turned, and headed into the forest.

**Whew! That took a very long time to write. Thank you for reading, and please review your thoughts on this one-shot. I don't know if I'm any good at them, so please let me know if writing them is worth continuing. I have never written in first person before, either, so let me know how I did and if I should do third or second person instead. I might do a different POV every chapter, you never know. Until next time,**

**-Willowsmoke.**


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